Transferring the created model

Using Blenders import tools and settings to create an import-ready asset to be used in Unity game development environment. Unity game engine natively supports .blend models but having the model in multiple formats helps as all games don't support .blend or they need to be exported to an entirely different format. A popular file format that's almost universally supported is .fbx. For exporting .fbx files you need to set certain parameters for the model to work properly. Scaling is set to 1.0 as the models scale doesn't need to be changed before it's in the game engine. Forward and up refers to the models axis compared from Blender to the axis setup that the game development environment uses, axles were set to -Z forward and Y up as they are reversed in Unity compared to Blender. Next on the menu of 5 different selections is the definition of export targets that get exported to the file. For this model only mesh is chosen as it's the only part of the project that needs to be exported.

Tick box with ”apply modifiers” is self explanatory, this defines if the exported

27

FIGURE 24: Blender export options

model will include any modifiers applied to the model, as I used mirroring and duplicate modifiers it's applied. Include edges means all the orphaned edges that don't serve any purpose and only taking extra time to render, I leave it off.

Deforming bones is not needed as the model doesn't have a skeleton or bone structure. I included animations as this can sometimes cause issues with models in Unity if no animations are present, even when the model doesn't include. All actions means all actions that affect the models skeleton, while not required in this case I use it as some game development environments require at least an empty set of data of this, the same goes for using optimised key frames. Precision is just a given value of comparing double key frames and the sensitivity of the procedure. Rest of the given export options are XNA-specific or just exporting the model to it's own folder.

When the model is exported it can simply be drag and dropped to a game development tool like Unity where it shows up as a ready made asset with all parts and materials separated that you used in Blender.

FIGURE 25: Finished model in Unity

4 FINISHING WORDS

3D-graphics have come a long way from portraying simple mazes or just lines drawn in empty space to represent a space station. They are now apart of our every day life and games have become more mainstream media because of it.

Fully modelled and simulated cities and worlds that you can interact with are done with thousands of man hours sinked in to them. Seeing how 3D graphics have evolved rapidly in the past 20-years it's not hard to see that a good skillset of 3D modelling can be very useful for anyone who studies technology or plans to employ themselves in the field.

The procedure of modelling a 3D model of a real world model can be daunting at first but once the work is started with good reference pictures. Having good reference pictures saves a lot of time in the modelling process as it's the main source of reference that you have. I learned that using several days for editing the photos to a more usable form saves you a lot of headache when modelling as I often went back to edit the reference material because I wasn't happy with it.

For the modelling process I found that a good workflow is the key feature to quickly model and get satisfying result. Blender has a good variety of hotkeys that are customisable and using them efficiently greatly speeds up the workflow without having to go through menus and navigating for one certain function that you should have at the end of your fingertip. I went as far as making my own keyset where I used W, A, S and D to move around and extra mouse buttons to replace the ones that I removed. At some point I realised that I didn't need to move my hand at all from the keyboard or mouse for several hours to keep working. Also creating a certain recognisable part of the model helped motivate me and gave scale for smaller details that I could add later on as I could see the model coming together at a fast pace with satisfying quality.

For using the model in game environments it was rather easy to export with correct settings as the community around Blender and Unity are quite vast, they have readily available guides and scripts that helped a lot with the work.

29

SOURCES

Gahan, A. 2010. 3D Automotive Modeling. Taylor & Francis Vaughan, W. 2012. Digital Modeling. New Riders

Simonds, B. 2013. Blender Master Class. William Pollock

Lehtovirta, P. & Nuutinen, K. 2000. 3D-sisältötuotannon peruskirja. Jyväskylä:

Docendo.

Stories from the Mazer War 30 Year Retrospective. Retrieved 7.11.2015 http://www.digibarn.com/history/04-VCF7-MazeWar/stories/colley.html

Educational Feature: A History and Analysis of Level Design in 3D Computer Games. Retrieved 22.10.2015

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2674/educational_feature_a_history_an d_.php

Electric Escape: The Army Battlezone Q & A. Retrieved 21.10.2015

Techspot: The History of the Modern Graphics Processor. Retrieved 20.10.2015 http://www.techspot.com/article/650-history-of-the-gpu/

IGN: The History of Grand Theft Auto Retrieved 19.10.2015

http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/03/28/ign-presents-the-history-of-grand-theft-auto?page=4

Softpedia: Adobe Photoshop. Retrieved 1.11.2015

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Graphic/Graphic-Editors/Adobe-PhotoShop-Trial.shtml

Unity: Information. Retrieved 1.11.2015 http://unity3d.com/unity

31

ATTACHMENTS ATTACHMENT 1